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Browsing Tags hip extension

Self-Assessing Gluteal Function

April 9, 2019 · by Garrett McLaughlin

Article written on April 8th, 2019 at 03:23pm | Follow Garrett on Facebook and Instagram |

The gluteals are comprised of 3 muscles at the posterolateral aspect of the hip. These muscles include the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Due to their location and connection between the pelvis, sacrum, and femur, they function in hip extension, abduction, external rotation, and internal rotation. But, they are also important from a stabilization standpoint, as they prevent hip internal rotation and help to align the lower limb during single leg stance and running.

I bet, at one time or another, you have heard how important these muscles are for everyday movements, athletics, and running. But, have you ever performed any type of assessment to truly test their integrity? If not, I have a very simple self-assessment that you can complete in 60-seconds or less. It’s called the hip bridge with straight leg raise.

How to perform the hip bridge with straight leg raise…

Lay on your back with the knees bent and feet flat on the floor
Lift up your hips to assume a hip bridge position
Extend one leg at the knee joint so the thighs remain level but you are supporting from one side
Hold this position for 20-30 seconds
Assess if one of the following things happened:
1. Inability to raise the hips up to the point where the knees, hips, and shoulders are in a straight line
2. The pelvis rotated and the non-weight bearing side dropped closer to the ground
3. The hamstring on the support side became very tight and/or cramped during the test
4. You were unable to hold this position for a minimum of 20-seconds
Now, complete the same assessment on the other side
Record the results and compare left to right

Take a second to watch the following video on how to self-assess the gluteals…

Because the gluteals play a variety of roles around the hip, this self-assessment could have shown you poor stabilization, hamstring dominance, poor neuromuscular control, gluteal weakness, or all of the above. Once you have improved the weak link(s), the next step is to build overall strength, stability, and endurance with a structured and progressive lifting program. This area can never be too strong and resilient!

If you found any issues with the self-assessment outlined in today’s article, I highly recommend reaching out to a knowledgeable healthcare professional who can help you create an action plan to see reliable results. Please click here to contact me directly if you have questions or want to work more closely together to find a solution.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

[The Hips Don’t Lie Series] 3 Drills to Improve Hip Neuromuscular Activation

November 27, 2017 · by Garrett McLaughlin

The hips are such a vital area when it comes to everyday movements and athletics. That is why I wanted to devote an entire series on exploring related topics concerning maintaining optimal performance and resilience. Even if you think, “my hips are fine, I don’t need this,” please realize that the hips have a big impact on the knee, lower body mechanics and lumbar spine health. Therefore, I cannot overstate their importance!

In today’s video, and future videos, we will go more in-depth about self-assessment, flexibility, neuromuscular activation, strength vs. stability, and multi-planar movement. Be sure to click here first and watch ‘The Hips Don’t Lie Series’ Trailer. I hope you enjoy the content! And, please comment below with any questions or comments.

Hip neuromuscular activation is a topic I talk about a lot. Essentially, it’s the connection between the nervous system and a muscle or group of muscles.

What I notice at the hips is that people are strong. I see this by them deadlifting a lot of weight or pushing heavy sleds. But, when I put them on the table and manual muscle test gluteal strength (hip abduction/extension), they often cannot hold against my resistance. Why is that?

In that situation, instead of focusing more on increasing strength to withstand my resistance, I like to take more of a lower level, activation approach. This means teaching them how to fully connect with and feel the glutes firing during certain movements. This approach, followed by re-testing the weak test, typically yields a noticeable increase in strength. And, with what we know about strength, there is no way that happened in the quick, 60-90 second intervention we carried out.

Click the video below to learn 3 of my favorite drills to progressively improve hip neuromuscular activation:

Be sure to key an eye out for more videos in ‘The Hips Don’t Lie’ series.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

Hip Extension and It’s Impact on Lower Back Health

September 23, 2017 · by Garrett McLaughlin

Article written on September 23rd, 2017 at 10:33am | Follow Garrett on Facebook and Instagram |

The hip is a pivotal joint that plays a big role in function of the lower back. Oftentimes, lack of hip extension due to poor flexibility and/or weakness can predispose the body to lower back pain and injury. From another perspective, lack of anti-extension (abdominals/obliques) core control and pelvic positioning will cause the back to be forced into extension during extension of the hip. All of this is undesirable when it comes to health of the spine.

In the video below, I explain how hip extension impacts the lower back. But first, let’s appreciate how mobility and stability must work together to create an optimal environment…

During hip extension, as in basic hip strengthening exercises, walking, and running, the core must reflexively fire to stabilize the pelvis. I often see people in the gym working on glute strengthening with no regard to spine position.

When you extend the hip to a certain point, especially when done forcefully and/or without respecting it’s end-range of motion, the lower back has to extend and the pelvis tips anteriorly to allow this motion. Over time, hyperextension of the hip can lead to increased compressive forces at the lumbar spine and injury. See the picture below as an example of forcing hip extension and how the back is impacted.

Notice how the lower back changes, from more of a neutral and natural curvature at the start, to hyperextension at the finish? This occurs either due to creating false extension of the hip where the lower back is assisting the leg being lifted. Or, poor spinal stabilization and lack of anti-extension core stability, thus leading to excessive lumbar extension.

Take a second to watch the following video. I highly recommend you take notice next time you perform any hip extension movements. Can you isolate the hip while still respecting the positioning of the pelvis and lower back? This is an important concept to reduce the incidence of lower back pain and to also get more from your hips.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

Exercise of the Month: Hip Hinge

September 14, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on September 13th, 2015 at 5:30pm | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

Teaching the body how to hinge at the hips is essential in promoting proper function and reducing unwanted stress through the lumbar spine. It is common for many people with low back pain to be unable to differentiate hip and spine movement. That is why teaching proper hip hinging is important.

The hip hinge is a very basic, but challenging movement. From sitting for long periods of time and improper training, we often lack proper hip extension. The inability for the gluteus maximus to produce extension due to neural inhibition is called gluteal amnesia. Before performing movements such as the hip hinge, we must first learn to activate the appropriate musculature with exercises such as: forearm hip extension and cook hip lift.

When learning the hip hinge, it is important to start with the fundamentals and progress appropriately. That means learning the proper pattern against a wall to teach neutral spine and only hip motion is key. This entry level variation is what we will focus our attention on in this article. Don’t be fooled by it’s simplistic appearance. Due to poor posture and faulty firing patterns, it can be challenging to execute this movement correctly. And, it’s value cannot be overstated.

How to perform this movement:

Stand 6-12 inches away from the wall
Place the pinky side of your hands into the angled crease of your hip joint
With minimal bend in the knees, drive the hips back to touch the wall
Ensure a neutral spine position with no increase in knee angle as you lower forward
Lower until the spine is parallel to the floor
At the lowest position, contract the glutes and drive the hips forward
Raise back up to the starting position
Repeat for the desired repetitions

Note: Posture is essential in this movement. Maintaining a neutral spine position will reduce force on the lumbar spine discs and musculature once you progress to the weighted versions. Also, keep the knees in only 10-15 degrees of flexion as you complete the movement. They are not allowed to bend more as you lower down, but should straighten as the hips drive completely forward at the top of the movement.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

Exercise of the Month: Plank with Hip Extension

June 3, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on June 3rd, 2015 at 9:00am | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

The plank is an exercise that has lasted the test of time. But recently, I have had a change of heart about this exercise. Since starting at Quest and learning more about the consistency of programming, I realize it is often difficult to intermix exercises that are timed and exercises that use repetitions. Especially when there is a need to time one athlete while spotting another. Don’t get me wrong, I still love all planks and their variations. But, adding a small change that allows you to count repetitions can be worthwhile.

FIrst off, let’s talk about the traditional plank… The main goal of the plank is to maintain a neutral core position and rigid torso, as well as prevent extension (arching) in the spine. By doing so we need to create and maintain stability all the way from the toes through the head. When we lift one leg off the ground into hip extension, we are causing a rotational stress throughout the body. This increases the demand on the core, to not only prevent extension, but rotation as well. Adding to it’s difficulty and also benefits once it is mastered.

–> Click here to watch a video demonstration of this exercise <–

How to perform this exercise:

Set-up in a traditional plank position
Elbows should be under the shoulders and toes under the ankles
Raise the hips so they are level with the feet and shoulders
Once you have a solid plank hold, lift one leg off the ground
Make sure the knee stays straight with no bend and the body doesn’t rotate
Lower that leg back down and repeat with the other leg
Complete for the desired repetitions

Note: Perfecting the traditional plank is the best starting point. Once you can hold this for 30-45 seconds, hip extension can be added. During the exercise, as you raise the leg it is important to make sure the body doesn’t rotate and hip drops.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

Improving Running Performance with Proper Glute Function

February 12, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

Hip extension is one of the most important motions in all of sports. Not only does hip extension provide us the drive and acceleration needed in running, it also has strong injury prevention importance. Often, people will be inhibited in the gluteals causing faulty movement patterns, poor performance, and an increased injury risk.

The gluteals are composed of 3 muscles (see picture below). The gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. They all contribute to some degree of hip extension because of their location on the more posterior aspect of the pelvis, but the medius and minimus also contribute to hip abduction and frontal plane stability. This means the gluteals are extremely important in function, not only at the hip, but the lumbar spine and knee. The knee and lumbar spine will take the brunt of faulty contribution of these hip muscles.

glutes

First, we need to determine how the gluteals are functioning. I personally like the Hip Bridge with Leg Extension Hold. This exercise targets the gluteus maximus as a hip extensor, and the gluteus medius/minimus as stabilizers to secure the pelvis in the single leg position. Watch the following video to learn how to test yourself:

**After completing that test, ask yourself these questions:

Did your hip fully extend and allow your body to be straight from the knee to shoulder?
Did you feel excess arching and/or stress in the lower back?
Did the hip on the extended leg side drop towards the ground?
Did you feel excess strain and/or cramping in the hamstrings?

If you answered yes to one or several of these questions, chances are you have some degree of glute inhibition. This means that for some reason, the nervous system has down-regulated it’s signal to these muscles, or has up-regulated the signal elsewhere to complete the movement. Most everyone can complete this movement, but are we completing it with the correct muscles in a way that promotes proper function?

For the purpose of this article, we are going to talk specifically about the gluteus maximus and hip extension. You can view one of my older posts that takes into consideration the stability aspect of the gluteus medius and minimus, here.

The first step is to look at the antagonist. In this case we are talking about the hip flexor. Oftentimes, an up-regulated and hypertonic or tight hip flexor will cause restriction into extension and the gluteus maximus to shut down. Try this basic hip flexor stretch to address any tightness first.

Next, let’s teach the body how to properly extend the hip using the gluteus maximus. This can be done with a very simple exercise called forearm hip extension (with bent knee). Although it doesn’t look like a challenging exercise, the importance is to keep the lumbar spine from extending while focusing on pure gluteus maximus contraction. In other words, your butt should be the only muscle doing the work. Complete for 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Once you have mastered pure hip extension using the gluteus maximus, we can move on to hip bridging variations. Our focus remains the same as we contract the glute to cause the movement. A great hip bridging progression that gradually increases in difficulty is as follows: hip lift, cook hip lift, single leg hip lift, and single leg hip lift on foam roller. Remember to master each one before moving on to the next. We aren’t looking to do the hardest one and call it a day, but perfect the movement using strictly hip extension. Watch the following video and complete 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions for as long as needed before moving on to the next variation.

Now, we can place our newly developed, proper hip extension into a more functional pattern. The reaching single leg deadlift allows us to get onto our feet, while using the gluteus maximus (and, medius and minimus too!) to control single leg movement that has greater carryover to athletics, especially running. Strive to keep the moving leg and body aligned throughout the exercise and once you’re at the bottom of the movement, drive from the gluteus maximus to raise back up. Using only hip extension is the tricky part, as people usually want to call upon their spine extensors to return to the starting position. Here is a clip of this valuable exercise which can be done with weight in the hands or as part of your warm-up with only bodyweight. Again, complete 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Now, that you have a basic understanding of how you are function in terms of hip extension. Make sure you put the time into each exercise. We aren’t looking for the hardest exercise, but the right exercise that makes the difference. Consciously think about contracting the gluteus maximus on each repetition to create this motion. Once we build the correct neural connection and pattern using the glute, injury risk decreases and performance may be enhanced. Until then we are functioning at half capacity without the significant benefits of this powerhouse muscle.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

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